Learn before you leap into dog ownership

Maryanne Dell's chow mix Fly. It's certain that if someone uneducated about chows had adopted him, he would not be looking forward to celebrating his 11th birday in January. DAVID CAPRON, DOGMA PET PORTRAITS

Get educated

A couple of upcoming seminars offer wonderful opportunities for pet owners to mingle with experienced dog people and learn about behavior, humane training methods and more. They're aimed at dog trainers and behavior experts, but they're done on a level that the average pet owner can understand and enjoy. If you'd like to really learn something about dogs, consider attending one or both:

• Ian Dunbar founded the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, a professional trainers' group that focuses on better training through education. He also pioneered the concept of socialization classes for puppies, now recognized as one of the most important steps to a healthy, happy, well-adjusted dog. He'll be at the Brookhurst Community Center in Anaheim on Nov. 7, speaking on concepts he considers crucial to raising "good-natured, well-behaved and reliable off-leash" dogs. And he's a great speaker. $90 per person. More info: jamesandkenneth.com.

• Karen Pryor brought positive reinforcement using nonforce methods to the masses. Her Clicker Expos are full of information about topics broad and specific that will help you learn how to have the dog you want using methods that will allow you and your dog to love the experience in ways you never thought possible. The expo comes to the Queen Mary in Long Beach Jan. 24-26. It's not cheap, but you don't have to attend the whole thing. More info: clickertraining.com/expo.

Something that’s always puzzled me:

People will spend hours, days, sometimes even weeks of research to ensure they purchase the perfect car, the just-right flat-screen TV, the absolutely right furniture, even the just-so coffee maker. They want to ensure that these products, whether big-money buys or average appliances, fit their home’s décor, their family’s lifestyle, their likes and dislikes.

Then they turn around and get a dog without giving a thought to the breed, size, exercise needs and potential lifespan. They just walk into a shelter or – shudder – a pet store that gets its dogs from a puppy mill, plop down their money, walk out and think everything is going to be just fine.

I applaud research. Many of my friends pour over Consumer Reports, KBB and manufacturers’ websites before going to look at potential new cars. As they should; $30,000-plus (or even half that if you’re going economy) shouldn’t be tossed around blithely.

Even a toaster is worth some research. I was reading about the cutest “camper toaster” that’s a VW bus without the VW logo earlier today, and if I were in the mood to spend unnecessarily, I’d consider getting one – it’s just the kind of quirky, speaks-to-me accessory I like. But I’d still try to find out if it’s worth the $57 retail price.

But let’s say I just buy the cute little toaster and get it home to find it isn’t up to my expectations. Of course, I can always return it, sit it on a shelf as a cute decoration or donate it. Whatever, I’m out $57 and it is just a piece of metal and, I assume, plastic.

If the car or the flat-screen is a lemon, I have recourses. The car is under warranty; the TV can be returned.

They’re just things, after all.

And therein lies the problem.

Animals are not things. True, that’s how they’re classified, technically, under the law.

But too much proof exists – both anecdotal and scientific – that animals are so much more than property. They have emotions. They have memories. They love. They fear.

Last year, the American Animal Hospital Association, an organization that provides accreditation to veterinary practices to ensure high levels of care, released a position statement that said, in part:

“The American Animal Hospital Association supports the concept of animals as sentient beings. Sentiency is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Biological science, as well as common sense, supports the fact that the animals that share our lives are feeling, sensing beings that deserve thoughtful, high-quality care. The care that is offered should provide for the animal’s physical and behavioral welfare and strive to minimize pain, distress, and suffering for the animal.”

A recent opinion piece in The New York Times by a neuroeconomics professor at Emory University (nytimes.com/2013/10/06/opinion/sunday/dogs-are-people-too.html) describes scientists’ work training dogs to willingly go through an MRI scanner – complete with the machine’s noise and requirement that the pooches lie perfectly still during the experience – awake and unrestrained.

This is a big, big deal. Animals requiring any kind of scanning, such as MRIs, traditionally have been sedated, because what dog, cat or whatever is going to willingly lie still in a loud, strange tube? The scientists taught the dogs to enter a simulated MRI, place their heads on a custom-fitted chin rest, and hold still for up to 30 seconds. The dogs wore ear muffs to protect their ears from the noise.

Maryanne Dell's chow mix Fly. It's certain that if someone uneducated about chows had adopted him, he would not be looking forward to celebrating his 11th birday in January. DAVID CAPRON, DOGMA PET PORTRAITS
Maryanne Dell and Jitterbug, her Tibetan spaniel KATE LUCAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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